11/3: miss buncle

I'm enjoying Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson.  I downloaded the Persephone Books Kindle edition last night, so I didn't have to wait for a paper copy to arrive from the UK.  Once again, I have to thank Persephone Books for bringing a smile to my face.  I chose this book for sheer pleasure, but it turns out that it relates to my research.  I am always on the look-out for retellings of ancient myths which change the original genders of the mythological characters; it's a pretty rare phenomenon.  Although this novel isn't a full-blown retelling of a myth, Stevenson draws clear parallels between Miss Buncle and Pan--and perhaps you can't switch gender more than by having a middle-aged British lady become a stand-in for the pipe-playing Greek goat god!  I love it.